Q Toon: Anything You Can Do

The Arizona state legislature is working to send their governor a series of bills to put an NC-17 rating on any performance involving cross-dressing.

Introduced by Republican Senator Anthony Kern, SB 1030 specifically calls for regulation and business licenses for drag shows and a limitation of their hours, not allowing shows between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday-Saturday and prohibiting shows on Sundays from 1 a.m. to 12 p.m. A violation would be a misdemeanor. That would impact Sunday morning drag brunches. “There are very popular drag brunches all over the Valley,” said [drag performer Richard] Stevens. “Some of them get anywhere from 100-300 people who just want to come out. They want to laugh.”

While Anthony Kern did not respond to Arizona’s Family for comment on his bill, Republican Senator John Kavanagh introduced one of the other bills [SB 1026] focused on not using state money to fund drag shows targeting kids. We asked him why he believes bills about drag shows are important right now. “I would suspect that this session suddenly there’s an interest in regulating drag shows because culturally there’s been a sudden preponderance or abundance of drag shows that are directed at children,” said Kavanagh.

And Senate Bill 1028, which would not allow anyone to "engage in an adult cabaret performance in either of the following locations: on pubic property or in a location where an adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a minor," would effectively criminalize "Drag Time Story Hour." 

Whether there have ever been any "Drag Time Story Hours" in Arizona, Idaho, or in any other state where Republicans are putting forth these bills, is beside the point. These new blue laws do not concern lewd or lascivious behavior. Their issue is choice of clothing. 

I toyed with several permutations of the idea behind this week's cartoon before picking up a pen. Should the drag performer channel Ethel Merman or Betty Hutton? Should there be a teacher or librarian somewhere? At one point, I was thinking of having a story read not by a female impersonator, but by some cis-het dude all dressed up in Mortal Combat Drag and a MAGA cap.

And how would be the best way to make pitching guns to schoolchildren sound ridiculous? I mean, isn't the idea preposterous on its face?

Apparently not. Friend of the blog John Kovalic came across this actual, I'm-not-making-this-up children's book, which, I have looked up myself and can vouch that its author is not kidding, trying to be ironic, or hoping to trick kids into learning arithmetic:

I refuse to link to any of the websites that sell this ammosexual groomer's primer of mass destruction, but it's a real book; and children are, if you'll pardon the expression, its target audience.

But really — how is a cartoonist supposed to outdo the lunatic fanaticism of such as Brian Lenney, M.A.?